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5/19/2020 0 Comments Parasites in the Park: Snow Plant Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). Photo Credit: US Forest Service When the snow begins to melt in the Galena forest, it’s met with the contrast of a bright red pillar poking through, announcing spring. This plant contains no green foliage, causing the hiker passing by to wonder how it photosynthesizes. The secret is, it doesn’t! The Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) gets nutrients through other plants by way of the mycorrhizal (pronounced “my-ko-RY-zoll”) fungal networks of conifer trees. Pine trees, along with many other plants, develop a symbiotic relationship with fungi in their roots; the mycelial strands of the fungi extend beyond the roots and bring water and nutrients to the conifer, as well as connecting several trees together in a big underground network. The Snow Plant takes advantage of this network by parasitizing the mycorrhizae and taking some of the nutrients. Ultimately a parasite of conifers, you’ll start to notice that Snow Plants grow under or very close to conifers. Through this process, the Snow Plant doesn’t need to have any green foliage and can focus on reproduction and growth. Parasites are a natural part of an ecosystem and are more common than you think. Just like everything else, they play a role and are important for other organisms. Because Snow Plant is one of the first things to bloom in spring, they are an important food source for pollinators.
Learn more here: US Forest Service - Snow Plant National Forests - Snow Plant Botanical Society of America - Snow Plant
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5/14/2020 0 Comments Bats and COVID-19 Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus), one of 23 bat species native to Nevada. This bat eats insects that can damage gardens and crops. Habitat destruction has been forcing wildlife into human environments, where zoonotic (animal-transmitted) diseases can flourish. Deforestation, for lumber and land conversion, is bringing humans and domesticated animals into closer contact with exotic species and animals that act as natural hosts of coronavirus-type diseases. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, ¾ of new diseases that infect humans originate in animals. There has been a lot of confusion as to the relationship between bats and COVID-19. Increasing reports show that the original strain of COVID-19 originated in bats, then spread to different intermediate hosts found in a wet market in Wuhan City, China because of our exploitation of nature, but it is now a human disease (spread from person to person). This means humans cannot get it from wildlife, including bats. Bats and other wildlife are natural hosts to coronaviruses, but we can only get this type of coronavirus from each other. That being said, bats in the wild are less likely to transmit these diseases to other animals (including humans) as these other species are specialized within distinct and well-established habitats and if they are protected and left undisturbed. This gives us even more reason to want to protect their habitat by supporting organizations that plant native trees and eat less meat and dairy from cattle that graze on recently converted pastureland. Bats must be protected as they are important for pest control, pollination, seed dispersal, global diversity, and ecosystem health.
Sources: Watts, Jonathan (2020). ‘Promiscuous treatment of nature’ will lead to more pandemics scientists. TheGuardian.com. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/07/promiscuous-treatment-of nature-will-lead-to-more-pandemics-scientists) Rothan, H. A., & Byrareddy, S. N. (2020). The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Journal of autoimmunity, 102433. Admin (2020). General News: BCI’s FAQ on Bats and Covid-19. Bat Conservation International. (http://www.batcon.org/resources/media-education/news-room/gen news/80-latest-news/1227-bci-s-faq-on-bats-and-covid-19). 5/11/2020 0 Comments The Nature of Chipmunks The Palmer's Chipmunk is found only in Nevada. Photo via Alchetron It’s springtime and animals are coming out of hibernation! Rodents, specifically, are some of the first mammal species to emerge and dig up their food caches from the winter. Of the rodent population, there are 15 species of native chipmunks in North America, with the Least Chipmunk (Eutamias minimas) found in the Canada, Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and parts of the upper Midwest. They are the smallest of chipmunks, typically 3 ⅔ to 4 ½ inches (9 to 11 cm) long and weighing 1-2 ounces (35 to 70 kg). They can often be confused with some squirrels, like the Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) and Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), but Least Chipmunks are yellowish-gray with tawny dark stripes down its back. They inhabit low sagebrush deserts, high mountain coniferous forests, and northern mixed hardwood forests, and live in burrows nearby different objects or buildings. Their burrows are inconspicuous and hard to see because they carry the dirt in its cheek pouches and scatter it away from the burrow entrances to evade predators. During the winter, chipmunks enter a restless hibernation and rely on food caches, ranging from berries to insects, they bring to their burrows at the onset of winter, as opposed to squirrels that enter a deep hibernation. You may start to see them coming out of hibernation as early as the beginning of March! Palmer's Chipmunks (Tamias palmeri), endemic to Nevada, are state-protected due to their extreme limited distribution in the Spring Mountains. Human activity, such as woodcutting, water diversion, and predation by dogs and cats have been ongoing threats to this species. The Nevada Department of Wildlife is continuing to monitor this species, but to help chipmunks residents can build rodent-proof structures to exclude them from entering gardens and store food items, like bird seed and dog food, in rodent-proof containers.
Sources: Nevada Department of Wildlife Palmer’s Chipmunks- http://www.ndow.org/Species/Furbearer/Palmer_s_Chipmunk/ University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Chipmunks- http://agri.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/agrinvgov/Content/Protection/Resource_Protection/Chipmunk.pdf 5/8/2020 0 Comments Why is it called Galena Creek?Have you ever wondered why we’re called Galena Creek, or perhaps you wonder why there’s a big G plastered on the mountain when you’re driving here from Reno? Let’s dig through some history and figure it out!
This area was developed as a mining property in 1860 by R.S. and Andrew Hitch. Their goal was to mine for gold, but the rock they were mining was too high in Lead Sulphide to be profitable. This Lead Sulphide is also known as Galena, hence the name. The prospects of mining were much better at the Comstock silver mines in Virginia City so the town of Galena became a source of timber for the Virginia City mines. The lush, forested area surrounding Galena was cut down and sent to Virginia City by teamster, or teams of mules. On the way back, the mules brought ore from Virginia City that were processed by mills in Galena. Between 1860 and 1865, the small town of Galena grew as the lumber business and ore processing took off. Then, from 1864-65, a severe winter halted much of the movement between Virginia City and Galena resulting in most of the Galena mills being shut down. To add insult to injury, two devastating fires in 1865 and 1867 destroyed the town of Galena and shut down industry permanently. The land located in the Galena Creek Regional Park is now jointly owned and managed by the USDA Forest Service and Washoe County Regional Parks and Open Space. They have created the beautiful picnic areas, visitor center, and trails we all know and enjoy today. Sources:
5/6/2020 0 Comments The Aspen Tree: A Closer LookPicture this…
You are hiking along a gorgeous canyon in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Forest. You come across a small creek. Surrounding that creek, you see a stand of hundreds of Aspen Trees slowly rustling in the wind. You wonder, are these trees part of something bigger? Well, you’d be right to think that. In fact, Aspen trees are considered one of the largest organisms on the planet with an resilient life force that resides underground in the form of an extensive root system. These roots can remain dormant or inactive for many years until the right conditions, such as sufficient sunlight, allow for a stand of trees to grow above ground. A stand of trees is also called a “clone” because each individual tree is genetically identical, creating one large organism. Fungi also operate this way. Fascinatingly, if a single Aspen clone was removed from the stand, its tough root system would barely be affected because it reproduces so rapidly! In deciduous forests, Aspen trees can quickly colonize recently burned or bare areas. Their thin, white outer bark protects a green photosynthetic layer underneath which helps the trees to create sugars and thrive in sub-optimal conditions, often times when other deciduous trees stay dormant. This sugary layer can then provide dire nutrients for wildlife such as deer or elk during hard winters or when food is scarce. The oldest and heaviest known Aspen stand can be found in Utah's Fishlake National Forest. It is rumored to be over 80,000 years old and weigh nearly 6,600 tons. What an awesome tree! 4/28/2020 0 Comments Leave No TraceWhile enjoying the great outdoors, it is important to respect nature. “Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics focuses on educating people—instead of costly restoration programs or access restrictions—as the most effective and least resource-intensive solution to land protection.” The organization does many things in order to educate the public on how to “Leave No Trace”. The 7 Principles of Leave No Trace is a great base to learn how to lessen one's impact and preserve the land. The Leave No Trace Organization understands that situations change and the Principals need to be revised in all situations. Regardless, here are the Principals, and ways you can Leave No Trace:
Please visit the Leave No Trace Website for additional information: https://lnt.org/ https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/  Monarch Butterfly Photo Credit: Xerces Society Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) are a butterfly species and an important pollinator throughout America and Mexico. Here in Nevada we have the Western Monarch. The monarch life cycle “metamorphosis” starts as an egg; they lay their eggs on milkweed plants. The egg hatches into a larva also known as a caterpillar they feed on the milkweed which contains cardiac glycosides. This is poisonous to birds and other animals but not the monarchs. The butterfly lara molts into a chrysalis; their body hardens and they enter the pupa stage (moth larvae construct cocoons an external structure to protect their pupa body), after almost a month in the chrysalis stage an adult monarch butterfly emerges. Because the adult butterfly ate milkweed as a larva they are poisonous to birds and other predatory animals. They are bright orange and black/brown with white spots the bright color warns off predators indicating they are poisonous. Monarchs migrate south in the winter and north in the summer, one generation goes south the next goes north and this migration pattern continues. Western Monarchs migration is currently threatened according to Xerces Society for invertebrate conservation “In both 2018 and 2019, volunteers counted under 30,000 monarchs—less than 1% of the population’s historic size.” A few reasons for the decline in monarch populations is due to loss of habitat, degradation of their habitats, pesticides, and climate change.
The five key steps to recovering the western monarch population in the short term are from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: 1. Protect and manage California overwintering sites 2. Restore breeding and migratory habitat in California 3. Protect monarchs and their habitat from pesticides 4. Protect, manage, and restore summer breeding and fall migration monarch habitat outside of California 5. Answer key research questions about how to best aid western monarch recovery 4/13/2020 0 Comments Dr. James E. Church Dr. Church ascending Mt. Rose If you’ve ever hiked the Jones-Whites Creek Loop to Church’s Pond, you may have wondered why it’s called Church’s Pond. James Edward Church came to Nevada from Michigan in 1892 to teach Latin, German, Literature, and Art Appreciation at the University of Nevada, Reno. In our neck of the woods, he is most famous for being the first Euro-American to climb Mt. Rose in the winter, which he completed in 1895. After travelling to complete graduate studies, he returned to Reno and helped start the Mount Rose Meteorological Observatory in 1906. Through this endeavor, he made regular winter ascents of Mt. Rose to gather data about winter conditions and snowpack, and eventually developed the Mt. Rose snow sampler in 1909 to measure the water content of snow, a system that is still used today. In the 1920s and 1930s, he traveled internationally to consult on snow sampling and measuring techniques, gaining an international reputation as an expert in snow science. In addition to this important invention, Church also contributed to the cultural development of Reno through founding the Nevada Art Gallery (now the Nevada Museum of Art). Dr. Church is one of the many visionaries and innovators who has played a role in making Reno the fascinating place it is today.
4/10/2020 0 Comments Black Bears and Humans Black Bear cubs showing some of the color variation of the subspecies. Photo via Wildlife Conservation Society Did you know black bears are not always black? They often appear in different shades of cinnamon and brown. Their large ears, long snout, and round head help biologists distinguish them from brown bears and grizzlies. There are 16 subspecies of black bears in North America, with 10,000-15,000 individuals of the California Black Bear, Ursus americanus californiensis, residing in the Sierra Nevadas. Black bears primarily forage omnivorously on grass, berries, blossoms, grubs, fish, and small mammals at night, but occasionally feed during the day, which is when they run into problems with humans. Car strikes and bear-human conflicts, because of unprotected trash and pet food, have caused the deaths of about 80 black bears each year between Nevada and California. When bears are involved in a conflict with a human or human property, they are removed or killed to prevent public safety concerns. However, bear complaints have increased because more people are living in bear habitat. These bears are difficult to deter as they have become increasingly habituated to getting food from garbage cans. Efforts to diminish habituation have been led by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, who first trap the bear, release it in the same area, then deter the bear with pepper spray or rubber bullets. In the springtime, bears come out of hibernation hungry and search for whatever food they can find. In many cases, this is human trash out in the open, and this is the season when most conflicts occur. Remember to keep your trash contained and locked, get bear-proof containers, and monitor your pets, fruit trees, and bird feeders. If you do find a bear in your neighborhood or backyard, call the NDOW Bear Hotline at 775-688-BEAR.
4/6/2020 0 Comments Park Spotlight: Insect Hotel If you’ve ever stopped by the Visitor Center, you’ve probably seen this structure outside. This is our Insect Hotel, which was complete in 2015 through the efforts of several volunteers, community members, and government organizations, and funded through a grant from the Reno Sparks Association of Realtors. The purpose of an Insect Hotel is to provide habitat for native pollinators to build nests and reproduce. Unlike European honeybees and their iconic beehives, many native bees are solitary and build small nests in hollowed out stems, underground, or in trees. Native bees, flies, beetles, and other pollinators are important for our native plants, because some flowers have evolved to only be pollinated by one species of native pollinator or group of pollinators. The Insect Hotel was built right in the middle of our Upper Pollinator Garden to provide the plants with pollinators and the pollinators with food, and so visitors can see what native pollinator habitat looks like. If you’re interested in providing habitat for native pollinators in your own yard, there are many easy, inexpensive ways to do this. Check out these links for more information:
Recycled Insect Hotel Wooden Insect Hotel One important thing to remember about these habitat structures is they require maintenance after construction, so if you build one, make sure to check on it regularly, replace habitat materials, and understand the timing of the insects you are helping. |
AuthorThis blog is managed by the staff and volunteers of Galena Creek Visitor Center. We write about parts of the natural world that we find fascinating and want to teach others about, as well as keeping you updated on the Visitor Center and park. If you want to learn more, please sign up for our monthly newsletter, where we share upcoming events, updates on the ecology of the park, and highlights from each month. Archives
August 2020
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